Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice

The Importance of Early Diagnosis of Gardner’s syndrome in Dental Examination

MZ Adisen, A Okkesim, M Misirlioglu

Abstract

Gardner syndrome (GS) is a rare genetic disorder. Dentists play an important role in diagnosis considering that craniomaxillofacial osteomas are a major criteria for GS. We report a 26-year-old male patient who referred to our department with toothache. On routine panoramic radiographic examination, multiple radiopaque masses were detected incidentally. In addition, on extraoral examination, a soft tissue tumor was detected on his shoulder. The patient was referred to the gastroenterology department and intestinal polyps were detected in the colon. Histopathology report revealed malignant changes in the intestinal polyps. Early colectomy, which is a life-saving operation, was possible because of our early diagnosis.